Act two for Black Lava.
Following their debut album in 2022, Daniel Presland (drums, Vipassi, A Million Dead Birds Laughing, ex-Ne Obliviscaris), Ben Boyle (guitar, A Million Dead Birds Laughing, Hadal Maw, Vipassi), Rob Watkins (vocals, Blackhelm) and their new bassist Nick Rackham (bass, A Million Dead Birds Laughing, Hadal Maw) unveil The Savage Winds to Wisdom, via Season of Mist again.
Colour of Death gets off to a slow start with a few ominous sounds, but when saturation takes hold of the track, it becomes much darker until the vocal parts and explosive blast give way to outright aggression. There’s an intoxicating dissonance in the background, creating a contrast with the violence found tinged with vindictiveness on Dark Legacy, a highly versatile but coherent composition that naturally embraces its fury before returning to a tortured quietude. The hazy veil continues on Wrapped In Filth, but the musicians are quick to inject more energetic parts that clash with the haunting atmosphere that also haunts Unsheathing Nightmares between two waves of bloody virulence. The rhythmic basis remains solid and anchored in bellicose roots, but the band allows us a moment’s respite on the final before joining Summoning Shadows where the musicians unleash their full fury while remaining extremely precise in their complex riffs. After a short pause, Ironclad Sarcophagus locks us into its cocoon of oppression led by relatively changeable drums that guide piercing guitars to Pagan Dust, a more jerky composition that’s just as thoughtful as the previous one. The fiery vocal parts blend perfectly with the anxiety-inducing climate, which finds a certain complementarity with the martial final, before a few growls introduce us to Sanguis Lupus and its waves of assumed savagery, barely contained by airy harmonics. The Savage Winds To Wisdom marks the album’s final moments, whether with a sometimes very Old School violence or with a suffocating vaporous veil, but this long track remains one of the album’s most intense.
With only two albums to their name, Black Lava show us a strong identity between Black and Death Metal, with its moments of dissonance and furious parts. The Savage Winds to Wisdom is sure to be a hit, and its riffs will sound like a storm in our ears.
85/100